Department for Transport

Work in Fishing Convention

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to lay before Parliament the statutory instruments necessary to implement the European Union (Definition of Treaties) (Work in Fishing Convention) Order 2018; and whether they intend that those statutory instruments should be approved by both Houses before the UK leaves the EU.

baroness sugg: The European Union (Definition of Treaties) (Work in Fishing Convention) Order 2018 will provide the powers to fully implement the International Labour Organization’s Work in Fishing Convention (No. 188). The Government intends to lay the statutory instruments implementing the Convention in summer 2018. These instruments will be laid under negative procedure.

Dover Strait: Tugboats

earl attlee: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to review the provision of Emergency Towing Vessels covering the Strait of Dover.

baroness sugg: In light of a recent recommendation by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency intends to commission a study to review the full range of emergency response assets available in the Dover Strait area, including a reassessment of the need for a dedicated emergency towing capability.

Department for Education

T-levels

lord allen of kensington: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they planfor the Institute for Apprenticeships to take on responsibility for the new T level qualifications.

lord agnew of oulton: We are working closely with the Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA) to prepare for the transfer of responsibility for T levels. The transfer will take place once their new legal powers have been commenced. More details will be set out in the forthcoming strategic guidance to the IfA.

T-levels

lord allen of kensington: To ask Her Majesty's Government to what extent they envisage that Trailblazer groups of employers will be used to inform the development of core content for T level qualifications.

lord agnew of oulton: Trailblazer groups sit within the Institute for Apprenticeships and their primary purpose is the development of apprenticeship standards. These standards are being used by T level panels (advisory groups of employers, professionals and practitioners) to help inform the development of outline content for new T level qualifications, which comprises of both core and specialist content. We are keen to encourage more members of Trailblazer groups to apply to be members of T level panels, to help strengthen the alignment of T level content to apprenticeship standards. We recently launched the second phase of recruitment for T level panels who will develop content for the routes that will be delivered from 2022.

T-levels

lord allen of kensington: To ask Her Majesty's Government to what extent they envisage that digital skills, English, maths and literacy will be included in the core content for T level qualifications.

lord agnew of oulton: As recommended by the Sainsbury Review, in our public consultation on T levels we proposed that occupation-specific mathematics, English and digital skills are embedded within each technical qualification. This will ensure that students continue to develop and apply these skills throughout their T level programme, supporting progression to a range of occupations. We also proposed that T level panels should be able to include higher standards of mathematics and English, such as core mathematics or A level mathematics, if it is needed for employment in their sector. This would be subject to approval from the Institute for Apprenticeships. We plan to publish our response to the public consultation later this spring. In the meantime, we are working with a range of mathematics, English and digital experts to ensure that the content of the first three T levels to be delivered from September 2020 is coherent, at the appropriate level and supports progression. This includes working with the Royal Society’s Advisory Committee on Maths Education, in line with the recommendations of the Smith Review of post-16 mathematics.

Apprentices: Arts

lord allen of kensington: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the apprenticeship levy on training and apprenticeships in the creative industries.

lord allen of kensington: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support micro-businesses in the creative industriesin providing apprenticeships.

lord agnew of oulton: We regularly publish data on apprenticeships, which can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/further-education-and-skills-statistical-first-release-sfr. This includes analysis of the number of apprenticeship starts by Sector Subject Area (SSA). Our most recent statistical release shows that starts in the Arts, Media and Publishing SSA have increased 14% on the year, though employers in the creatives industries will also hire apprentices in other SSAs. The Department for Education works closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to understand the impact of the apprenticeship reforms on the creative industries. As part of this, we have committed to inviting an employer representative from the creative industries to sit on our Apprenticeship Stakeholder Board. Government provides generous funding to smaller employers who do not pay the levy. Non-levy payers must co-invest only 10% of the costs of apprentice training and assessment in order to access 90% government funding. For micro-businesses with less than 50 employees, the 10% co-investment is waived when they hire a 16-18 year old apprentice or a 19-24 year old apprentice who is a care leaver or who has an Education, Health and Care Plan. Our communications and engagement work helps to make sure that as many employers of all sizes are aware of the apprenticeship reforms and the benefits of taking on an apprentice. Over 40,000 employers have visited our Get in Go Far website since the current phase of the campaign launched in January, and there have been over 1.4 million views of our adverts on social media. Our national employer helpline is open all year round.

Apprentices

lord allen of kensington: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of existing training activity that companies will be able to re-badge into level 2 apprenticeships in order to comply with new regulations.

lord agnew of oulton: It is not the intention of the apprenticeship programme that companies should re-badge existing training to comply with apprenticeship regulations. Apprenticeships are a specific product defined in law. We are introducing new employer-designed standards to improve the quality of the offer and better meet employers’ skill needs, and have committed to all new apprentices being on the new standards by 2020. 253 standards are ready for delivery, and a further 277 are currently in development. Our intention is to maintain and improve apprenticeship quality, and ensure that government funds are spent on approved training to build the knowledge, skills and behaviours to achieve competency in a true occupation. We have implemented extensive measures underpinned by statutory regulations to safeguard and improve the quality of learning provided through the apprenticeships programme. We are continuing to focus on the quality of apprenticeships by insisting that all apprenticeships must be real paid jobs; have a minimum duration of 12 months; involve sustained training and acquisition of skills through off-the-job training; and must include English and maths for those who have not previously achieved good GCSEs in those subjects.

Free School Meals

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the annual cost of extending free school meals to all children in families on Universal Credit over and above that of the proposed income threshold scheme,broken down by costs for(1) free school meals, and (2) the pupil premium.

lord agnew of oulton: We estimate that providing free school meals (FSM) to all children from households receiving Universal Credit would result in around half of all pupils becoming eligible for FSM. This would be over three times as many as the 1.1 million (14%) that are currently eligible for and claiming FSM in the latest figures. We estimate that this would cost in excess of £3 billion more a year, including the cost of the extra meals and associated school deprivation funding, such as the pupil premium. The additional meal costs alone would be in excess of £450 million per year.

Apprentices: Travellers

baroness whitaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 20 February (HL Deb, col 14), what assessment they have made of how the partnership with five major cities to drive up apprenticeships among under-represented groups will affect the Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities; and what support will be given to those whose literacy needs improvement to help them to take advantage of apprenticeship opportunities.

lord agnew of oulton: We will work with partners on the Five Cities project to identify any under-represented groups that can be supported into apprenticeships, so that more people can benefit from the increased wage and employment prospects that apprenticeships offer. We have not, however, made a direct assessment of how the Five Cities project will affect the Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities. Legislation that we introduced allows the minimum English and maths requirements for apprenticeships to be adjusted for entry level 3. This applies to any applicant who currently has, or has previously been issued, an education health and care plan or statement of special needs or learning difficulty assessment and who, as a result of their learning difficulties and/or disability, cannot meet the regular English and maths requirements but could otherwise meet the occupational requirements of the apprenticeship. Adults who want to improve their literacy skills prior to starting an apprenticeship and do not already hold a level 2 qualification are entitled to full funding for specified qualifications in English and maths up to level 2. 16-19 year olds who do not already hold a level 2 in English and maths are required to continue to study these subjects as part of their study programme.

Apprentices: Travellers

baroness whitaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 5 February (HL4901), how many Gypsies and Travellers were not in employment, education or training (1) 3 months, (2) 6 months, and (3) 12 months, after having completed an apprenticeship, in each academic year from 2011.

lord agnew of oulton: The information requested is not held centrally. It is difficult to provide reliable estimates for small groups using the sources available. The department publishes destinations data for pupils across the different phases of education, including those participating in apprenticeships, other further education, and higher education. However, the latest published data incorporating apprenticeships does not include breakdowns for Gypsy/Roma or travellers of Irish heritage as the sample sizes were too small to form a reliable estimate. For the same reason, this information cannot be produced from datasets held on young people not in employment, education or training. The department will continue to review data from these sources. The latest published destinations data for students in key stages 4 and 5 shows that of the 1005 pupils recorded as Gypsy/Roma as at the end of key stage 4 in 2014/15, 65% were in a sustained education or employment/training destination in 2015/16. In the same period, 130 students were recorded as travellers of Irish heritage, and 68% of them were in a sustained education or employment/training destination. In both cases, 4% were found to be participating in an apprenticeship in 2015/16. Of the 105 pupils recorded as Gypsy/Roma as at the end of key stage 5 in 2014/15, 78% were in a sustained education or employment/training destination in 2015/16. In the same period, 20 students were recorded as travellers of Irish heritage, and 65% of them were in a sustained education or employment/training destination. 8% and 0% of these groups, respectively, were in apprenticeships in 2015/16.

Diabetes: Health Education

lord roberts of llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure thatthere is adequate education in schools regarding awareness of diabetes.

lord agnew of oulton: It is important that children with medical conditions such as diabetes are supported to enjoy a full education. We have introduced a duty on governing bodies to make arrangements to support pupils with medical conditions and provided statutory guidance, which is attached, outlining schools’ responsibilities in this area. As part of this guidance, we have provided a collection of links to useful resources to help schools support their pupils with medical conditions. This includes a link to the ‘diabetes in schools’ section of the Diabetes UK website.



Supporting_school_pupils_with_medical_conditions
(PDF Document, 285.34 KB)

Special Educational Needs: Finance

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional financial support is given to those schoolswith a high number of pupils on Education, Health and Care plans.

lord agnew of oulton: Mainstream schools are funded through the formula set by their local authority. The funding formula is decided by each local authority and often uses factors such as pupils’ prior level of attainment in the school, to give an estimate of additional support required for pupils’ special educational needs (SEN).In addition to the core funding provided to mainstream schools, we provide each local authority with a high needs budget. This supports provision for children and young people with SEN and disabilities, and alternative provision for pupils who cannot receive education in schools.Local authorities are required to delegate funds to a level that enables schools to meet the additional cost of supporting pupils with SEN up to £6,000 per annum. When a school can demonstrate that the costs exceed this, the local authority should allocate top-up funding from its high needs budget.The local authority can also use its high needs budget to give extra funding to schools with a disproportionate number of pupils with SEN, including those with a high number of pupils on education, health and care plans.We provided local authorities with £130 million of additional funding for high needs last year, and are providing a further £142 million this year, bringing the total high needs funding across England to £6 billion per annum.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Grenfell Tower: Fire Regulations

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers byLord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 28 March (HL6432 and 6433), whether they intend the detailed questions contained and unanswered in the reply to be covered by the inquiry currently being undertaken by Sir Martin Moore-Bick.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: With regard to your previous question HL6432 the Government is taking forward this work at pace and on the Expert Panels’ advice we are conducting a thorough investigation including further testing as quickly as possible. We are committed to providing an update by the end of April.With regard to your previous question HL6433 and the 6 questions therein, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry is examining the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the fire at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017. It will establish the facts and will make recommendations as to the action needed to prevent a similar tragedy happening again. The Metropolitan police service is leading the criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the fire. Both the public inquiry and criminal investigation are independent from government and it would be wrong for me to comment on the scope of those investigations.

Ministry of Defence

Defence

viscount waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whetherthey intend toproactively engage and collaborate further with the private sector in the prevention of, and action against, hybrid threats, to combat critical skill shortages and bring in further expertise; and if so, how.

earl howe: It is the responsibility of individual Government Departments to collaborate with their own sectors to ensure that the private sector is aware of the need to protect against hostile state activity, as part of their contribution to national resilience. For example, the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review made significant commitments on Cyber and the National Cyber Security Strategy and in 2016 launched the National Cyber Security Centre.

Defence

viscount waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have a definition of “hybrid threat”; if so, what is that definition; and which Government department is responsible for managing and coordinating the responses to such threats.

earl howe: Hybrid threats should be considered as Hostile State Activity and the Prime Minister set out in the 2018 National Security Capability Review that "we will harden our defences against all forms of Hostile State Activity". To achieve this we will "use a new national security doctrine, the Fusion Doctrine, to improve our collective approach to national security, building on the creation of the National Security Council eight years ago so that we use our security, economic and influence capabilities to maximum effect to protect, promote and project our national security, economic and influence goals." As highlighted in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 we will continue to work with NATO and allies to tackle current threats and adapt to combat future threats, focusing on cyber and countering hybrid threats.

Defence

viscount waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether sufficient resources are available to (1) pre-empt, and (2) address, a hybrid threat; whether those resources include mobilisation of the armed forces; and what other resources have been made available.

earl howe: Government Departments prioritise within their existing departmental budgets to adequately manage and mitigate all risks (including hazards, counter-terrorism and hostile state activity). The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 will continue to be implemented including specialist Army brigades focused on hybrid warfare and notably the £1.9 billion National Cyber Security Strategy to ensure the country keeps pace with the threat, including through the National Cyber Security Centre.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Air Pollution: Greater London

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Mayor of London's plans to reduce air pollution in London.

lord gardiner of kimble: We included an assessment of the impact of the proposed expanded London ultra low emission zone (ULEZ) in the analysis carried out as part of the UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations. We published this analysis in the technical report accompanying the plan (see link below). We await the data on the changes to traffic composition and movements since the introduction of the T charge before we can update our assessment on changes to air quality.The Government has meaningfully invested to improve air quality in London. London has received directly £137m in funding in support of measures to help improve air quality including the retrofitting of over 1400 buses and the purchase of 34 low emission buses, in addition to the £5.7bn transport settlement to TfL which included provisions to address air quality. Despite this investment and activities undertaken, the Government is concerned that London is not expected to achieve compliance until 2026. We will continue to encourage and support the Mayor to take effective action to address NO2 pollution in the capital.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/632916/air-quality-plan-technical-report.pdf



Air Quality Plan Technical Report
(PDF Document, 5.55 MB)

Home Office

Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders

baroness doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how manySlavery and Trafficking Risk Orders have been (1) applied for, and (2) granted, since the introduction of those orders.

baroness williams of trafford: The latest data for Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders, made available to the Home Office, is for the period July 2015 to September 2017 and covers applications made in Magistrates’ Courts. During this time 33 applications were made for Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders, of which 26 were granted, 5 were refused and 2 were withdrawn. This data has been run specifically to answer this question and is not verified to the same standard as Official Statistics.

Police: Recruitment

lord grocott: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 13 March (HL5787), whether they will now answer the question asked, namely how many police officers have been recruited via the Direct Entry Superintendents Scheme in each year since that Scheme was introduced.

lord grocott: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 13 March (HL5787), what were the occupational backgrounds of those police officers recruited via the Direct Entry Superintendents Scheme in each year since that Scheme was introduced.

lord grocott: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 13 March (HL5787), what has been the cost to date of (1) recruiting, and (2) training, police officers recruited via the Direct Entry Superintendents Scheme since that Scheme was introduced.

baroness williams of trafford: Direct entry offers the opportunity to widen the talent pool from where we attract our police officers and will bring in people from a diverse range of backgrounds. According to the College of Policing, which is responsible for delivery of the direct entry schemes, 29 direct entry superintendents have been appointed since the scheme began in 2014 (9 in 2014, 6 in 2015, 8 in 2016, 6 in 2017). The introduction of direct entry allowed professionals from other sectors to join policing at a senior rank for the first time, with recruits drawn from occupational backgrounds including: academia; banking; business; law; local and national government. To date, the Home Office has provided £12.2 million to enable the recruitment and training of direct entrants. This funding has covered the salary costs of superintendent recruits, as well as supported the recruitment and training of direct entrants at both superintendent and inspector level. Next year the College of Policing will be publishing an evaluation of the implementation of direct entry, which will include specific funding and delivery data.